dies_irate: (Default)
John Doe ([personal profile] dies_irate) wrote in [community profile] singillatim2025-03-02 01:08 pm

open | chapter 1 | march catch-all

« Who: John Doe and you!
« What: John makes his way to Milton
« When: March! Starting early March! Prompts to be added as needed!
« Where: Woods, Milton, and in between
« Content Warnings: none so far!

[ i. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep... [journey to Milton] ]
John hadn't liked the castle, even after their host had stopped being a secretive fucking asshole, but he certainly liked it better than whatever fucking cave he wakes up in. The first reason is because it's cold as hell. Or. Maybe not hell, but it is extremely goddamn cold. The second is that somehow, somehow, he is not where he is supposed to be in a much more disorienting fashion than any other: he is not within Arthur Lester. He is in a body, a body that feels like his body, that has a collection of limbs and pieces that feel like they belong to him and, from his limited ability to look at it, looks the way he feels like he ought to look. The gold of the robes, the matte black of his skin and hair and claws, the way his right arm seems whole until the individual tentacles that form it separate and stretch like spread fingers-

Legs are new. He can't say he's a fan, especially these that don't even have toes like he'd gotten used to. It takes grabbing a freezing cold stone to push himself up, hooves skittering across the uneven floor at first before finally finding a catch, and then he's hauling himself into an upright position to start really looking around.

"Hel-"

A pause before he puts his claw to his throat. What a sentence that is: his claw, his throat. But more importantly, is that what he sounds like out loud? Fuck, that's weird. Okay.

"Hello! Arthur!?" A pause before- "...Yorick?"

That's what makes him look around, or rather pat down his robes to find the items that had apparently come here with him. The coin is surprising, given where he'd last seen it. The beastiary is a boon, one he's glad not to have lost. But the skull on it's chain, dead and lifeless, no yapping to be heard...

"Shit."

It's not the most auspicious start to a day, but it's also not the worst that he's had. After all, there are trees and snow and rocks, pieces of the real and physical world. It doesn't look like Addison to him, from what he remembers of that place, but it is at least Somewhere. Not the Dark World. Not the Dreamlands, or so he hopes.

It means he needs to get walking, try and find people, or at least a warmer place to stay. As such, he'll set off into the forest, looking for signs of life, movement, and always, always Arthur.

Feel free to find him on the way. ...he'd appreciate if you didn't try to kill him, but he won't be surprised if it happens.


[ ii. And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep. [entering Milton] ]
It's been a long, cold, unfortunate slog, the only benefit of which is the fact that he can wear with pride the 100% success rate at not falling into holes during his first sojourn on legs. It's the sort of thing that he holds to himself as tight as his robes against the frigid temperatures and the rising dark, something to tell Arthur about when he gets back to him.

Because he is getting back to him. That is not up for debate. It's just a matter of how long it'll take him to get there.

He sees the houses, avoids those that are dark and heads towards the greatest source of light. He'd considered trying to sneak around, gather information, learn what this place is and who lives here and what they might do to him if they saw him. But he also knows how clumsy he is in this new body of his, and large, and cold, and that someone caught sneaking would no doubt be thought of as a sneak. Instead, he decides to go (tentatively) for the larger gamble: he heads for the main area of town, the brightest light, the most people. He'll walk slow, gauge reactions, see if he can get someone to trust him at least far enough to let him get near a fire or perhaps provide some food (hunger? sucks) before he gives up, runs, and seeks some other place to go.

He remembers 'hands up' from those police on the island and readies his arms to put them up if asked.

Once more with feeling and in he goes.

[ iii. From what I’ve tasted of desire / I hold with those who favor fire. [community hall fire w/Arthur] ]
It takes a bit of coaxing, and more than a bit of looking out, but John does eventually come in from the cold. They head for the community hall, since the fire is always going there and John's been out in the wilds for quite a few hours. He'll finally get a chance to rest and soak in some warmth, his arms wrapped firmly around Arthur Lester now that they've been reunited. The size difference is a little funny but hopefully the giant non-human figure looks significantly less terrifying while shamelessly cuddling someone who seems just as glad to be there as he is. (The vibe is a lot more My-Neighbor-JohnDoedoe than anything else.)

Feel free to come by and say hi. He doesn't bite!

[ iv. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. [around Milton] ]
Once John's here, he's... well, he's here. He can be found with Arthur or without Arthur, often in their home on Thompson (neatening up) or in the community hall, getting a feel for...

Everything, frankly.

He's new to this place, he's new to having a body, he's new to clothes (namely the largest coat he could find and a heavy blanket used as a kilt) and food. He's new to people seeing him, acknowledging him, speaking to him. He's new to being able to pick up a book by himself, being by himself in the physical world. He's new to fatigue. He's new to all of these senses that are both more vibrant and duller than what he might have had.

So if you catch him looking confused or looking around, or if he points at himself and looks to make sure you're talking to him, well... he's not fucking with you. This is all a lot to deal with.

[ v. One can see what will trouble / This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is. - closed to Arthur ]
It's as they're settling down in their home (their home!) in the loft area that John starts feeling the pull on his eyelids, the way his limbs are heavy and the urge to get comfortable becomes incredibly strong.

"Arthur... what's-"

[ Return player! New character! As you can see, he's a very obvious non-human! If you want to chat, or an individual starter, [plurk.com profile] yarnzipan or the same on discord works just fine! ]

notarat: (012)

[personal profile] notarat 2025-04-12 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes."

It's a rather quick answer. Apparently it's a question the man doesn't mind in the slightest. Usually he even would have explained where he was before showing up here, but considering the way John is looking and all, Billy doesn't think it's likely the other comes from Earth. Or that he would recognize the specific geographic region Billy would be talking about.

"We all come from different places," he instead explains. "As if different.. worlds are interconnecting, I suppose."

That word 'worlds' is definitely said with a bit of an uncertain tone, like he isn't used to speaking it. It makes it sound a little awkward.
notarat: (013)

[personal profile] notarat 2025-04-27 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh.

Billy blinks at the answer, turning his head to look at the other. Thankfully he knows these streets well enough about all this time to be confident he won't bump into anything, even if he isn't looking directly ahead of himself right now.

"It does?"

He sounds a little surprised. Not fully shocked, but.. well, this is still new.

"Are you familiar with the concept?" Who even knows what kind of world would produce beings who look like John, after all. Maybe it's a world similar to this one?
notarat: (012)

[personal profile] notarat 2025-05-29 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
There's the slightest pause, and then he starts with a: "Well."

It's a little bit of an awkward 'well.' Billy sure sounds like he's far out of his comfort zone here, hearing the sort of stuff John is saying. It shouldn't be a surprise with the way the other looks, and yet..

"It certainly sounds like you are far more acquainted with the concept than I am." That's for sure, considering Billy never even considered the possibility of multiple worlds before ending up here and being confronted with it! "It should help you settle in here. Most of us here were not familiar-- It means having to do more adjusting, especially at first. But you could just see this as.. a strange new world you had not seen yet, I suppose."